


The First-Last Time

by nothingisreal



Category: GP2 Series RPF, Motorsport RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 23:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12641784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingisreal/pseuds/nothingisreal
Summary: Mitch has always treated Artem differently...





	The First-Last Time

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my first language, no beta

Artem really fucking missed Mitch. There, he’d said it. It wasn’t like they were very close, in a way he always felt like he was on the outside looking in when it came to Mitch and his other friends, but then they also _were_ close and, as confusing as it might sound, Artem got it. Their friendship was difficult to explain to anyone else but it was a friendship and they both knew that.

Mitch had a reputation, Artem was very determined not to find out about any details, so he couldn’t be sure how true it was, but he sometimes got the impression Mitch was the only person who didn’t know about it, or maybe he was just pretending? It was kind of ridiculous when several people came up to him during his first season in GP2 just to warn him, as if Mitch was just waiting for an opportunity to jump Artem’s bones.

Artem had been terrified at the start of that season, there were so many expectations placed on him, so much pressure, he wasn’t sure he could handle it. Also, he was a bit afraid of what Mitch would be like, if maybe the rumours were true, if the two of them were just too different to get along. But all his worries disappeared when they actually met for the first time and just _clicked_.

Mitch was friendly with everyone but with Artem he also seemed to be able to read minds, because he was always tuned in to what Artem was thinking or feeling. Which was a good thing, seeing as Artem wasn’t the kind of person who’d ask for reassurance, especially not somebody he’d just met, but who needed it desperately at the same time.

Mitch was also a very tactile person and that was okay, Artem didn’t mind. It surprised him at first, how Mitch would have no qualms about coming up to him and slinging an arm around his waist, or resting his head on Artem’s shoulder, or hugging him when one of them had had a particularly shitty race or just because he felt like it… Artem had never really thought about it before he realised something was missing, the ever-present hand on his shoulder or the side pressed against his own suddenly gone since Mitch had left for Campos.

That was also when he started noticing (or maybe just stopped pretending he didn’t notice?) how Mitch seemed to act differently with everyone else. Always flirty and charming and seductive… But never with Artem. Just like that night in Moscow…

Technically, he could have gone home but it wasn’t often that he got to spend more time with Mitch, so he didn’t even think of turning down the invitation when Mitch asked him to come up to his room. They were both tired from walking around the whole day, but they soon forgot about it; Mitch seemed so fired up, unable to shut up, asking Artem a million questions. And then he dragged Artem out onto the balcony and suddenly it was quiet, the silence so surprising after an hour of never-ceasing chatter, Artem felt weird about it, thrown off balance.

Mitch leaned against the railing, watching the city beneath them in fascination. Artem realised he had been staring and quickly looked away, towards the lights. He caught Mitch looking at him with a funny expression, eyes narrowed and bottom lip between his teeth, and for a second he thought that was it - that was the moment Mitch would finally try to… what? Seduce him? Kiss him? Make a move on him? He was holding his breath, waiting for Mitch to do something, the air around them suddenly thick with tension and Artem didn’t know if it was just him who sensed it, didn’t know if it even mattered.

And then Mitch shook his head almost unnoticeably, glanced at the streets before looking back at Artem.

“We should take a photo.”

Artem didn’t stop thinking about that moment for the next week. He couldn’t make sense of what he was feeling. He should have been relieved that he didn’t have to turn Mitch down but was he? That wasn’t what relief felt like. He was… disappointed? Would he seriously have prefered it if Mitch had tried to have sex with him or…  whatever it was he usually did?

Artem was the first person to learn Mitch was leaving GP2 and it did things to his heart, made him feel a bit too hot. They were no longer teammates, he didn’t know if they were even friends, and yet he was the first person whom Mitch broke the news to, knocking at Artem’s hotel door late in the evening.

Artem invited him inside, congratulated him with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, prompted him to talk about his plans for the following year. It wasn’t difficult, Mitch still had no trouble just talking for as long as Artem was willing to listen, and Artem was _always_ willing to listen to him.

“Why did you never try to…?” He furrowed his brows, unsure of how he should finish that question. He hadn’t been meaning to ask it, it just kind of slipped out, because apparently he still hadn’t let it go, even though it’d been over two years.

“Why did I never try to get you into bed?” Mitch helped him out, and that ability to read Artem’s mind was still there, despite them not being teammates anymore, despite almost never spending time with each other.

Artem nodded, his cheeks warmer than a minute before.

Mitch shrugged with a melancholic smile. “I don’t know. It felt wrong. No, not like that, you idiot.” He laughed softly when he saw Artem’s slightly hurt expression. “I guess I just always thought you were…” He trailed off, stared at the floor with furrowed brows.

“I was…?”

Artem’s heart was beating too quickly and he was kind of holding his breath again. There were so many ways Mitch could end that sentence and Artem was convinced every single one of them had the potential to kill him, regardless of whether it was something good or bad.

“There’s no way to say this without sounding soppy.” Mitch laughed and Artem rolled his eyes with a smirk.

“You _are_ soppy.”

Mitch scrunched his nose up, looked at Artem with a wide smile. And then the expression on his face softened but the look in his eyes was intense, he didn’t look away and Artem couldn’t have torn his eyes off him even if he wanted to, and he really didn’t want to.

“That you were something special, you know. You were too…” He laughed, finally looking away, his cheeks red, and this was probably the first time ever that Artem saw him blush. “Too precious for me to fuck it up. And… and I…”

He seemed a bit choked up and unable to voice his thoughts, and that was another first - Mitch never was at a loss for words, never to shy to say what was on his mind.

Artem moved forward without even realising he did that and then his hand was on Mitch’s cheek and his lips on Mitch’s before his brain could even catch up.

When they broke apart, Mitch’s hand was fisted in Artem’s Russian Time T-shirt (they both tried not to think how just a year earlier they wore the same colour), he looked shocked and apprehensive but Artem would have none of that.

“Please?” Artem whispered against Mitch’s lips and Mitch hesitated for a second but then nodded, pressed their lips together again.

They didn’t think about what was going to happen come dawn. Not when they were kissing, not when they undressed each other, giggling nervously, not when Mitch pushed inside Artem, whispering breathless praises, not later when they were lying next to each other, talking in hushed voices, saying things they’d wanted to say for years, their fingers mapping every inch of each other’s bodies, trying to burn every second into their memories, so that they’d never forget…

One night was all they were getting so they both wanted to make it special. But then, they both knew it would be, simply because of the person they would spend it with.


End file.
